Major Major

Major Major – ‘The Beast’

This song’s been doing the rounds on music blogs lately – and rightly so. It’s a great slice of indie pop from a band who, when I saw them only twelve months ago, seemed incapable of producing something so professionally bold and catchy (which is a glowing appraisal of their progression and not a back-handed compliment).

‘The Beast’ combines a strong, stuttering back beat, stereo guitars and the odd ‘group chanted’ vocal to elevate its modest melody into near-anthemic territory. In addition to their penchant for effective embellishments, the band are fortunately also adept at knowing when to drop the bells and whistles. At various times throughout ‘The Beast,’ both dynamics are on display and work well when played off against each other. Adrian Slattery’s smooth and consistent voice contrasts nicely with the distorted guitars but is also, in itself, rough and emotive enough to avoid transgressing into dull competency. Perhaps the coolest thing about this song, and the best indicator of its success, is that it would sound equally at home in both small clubs and large stadiums.

Chances are that you’ve seen this song floating about already. Even if you have, you should listen to it again – it keeps getting better. I swear.

http://www.myspace.com/thisismajormajor